Mingering Mike is the alias of a man who, as a boy and young adult in the 1960's and '70's, lived a fantasy life as a soul singer/bandleader/producer/record company executive by way of his creation of elaborately-illustrated album overs and single sleeves that he filled with cardboard record replicas, complete with labels and quasi-grooves in the "vinyl." Less prodigious than Minghering Mike's visual artistry is his actual music, which comprises home recordings where he would keep rhythm with an afro pick or other object. before read this question, had you ever heard of Mingering Mike?

The Mingering Mike "record" collection was kept in a storage shed on which the man behind the moniker fell behind on rent. The contents of the shed, including the Mingering Mike items, were sold off. That might have been the end of the story had not all that pseudo-vinyl found is way its the bins of a couple of U.S. East Coast used record merchants, a couple of patrons of which discovered the Mingering Mike items and touted their finds on soul music collectors websites. Have you ever been excited by finding anything related to a hobby of yours though that thig might not necessarily be "real?

Tracing the Mingering Mike collection of visual art chronologically, it more or less reveals its subject own life. That becomes especially apparent after he was drafted into the army and lied to by an officer who had promised him a spot in the military band instead of, as it turned out he was about to be, being sent to combat in Vietnam. "About to" apples in Mike's (not his real name, or so he has said) because he went absent without leave. Before everyone in that position and draft dodgers were pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, Mike lived in fear of being apprehended and imprisoned for going AWOL. Can you think of anyone else's artistry that reflects an avoidance of law enforcement?

To hear more Mingering Mike music, you can go to https://www.mingeringmike.com/music. It's all raw as the song accompanying the first question. To my knowledge, none of his songs has been remade by anyone with fuller instrumentation, though I believe that would have potential to sound quite good. Both musically and visually, Mike may be viewed as an outsider artist...so far outside the established visual art and music worlds that he had no intention of anyone outside his family and friends knowing of his creations. About a half-century on, which portion of his art do you think is more compelling?

As can be seen from the video accompanying the previous question, the Mingering Mike faux record collection was featured in an exhibition at Washington, D.C,.'s Smithsonian Museum of Art. which owns the collection it showed. It makes for a happy ending to Mike's outworking of both dreams and worries. Apart from the discovery of a probably unique example of artistry on two fronts by unlikely circumstances, I'm unsure what other conclusions ma be drawn from his story. If one comes to your mind, how about sharing it?